In network systems such as the Internet, it is common for web pages or electronic documents provided on web pages to have one or more data fields for receiving data from a user viewing the web page.
Traditionally, a user visits a website which displays an HTML page with a form. When the form is completed by the user, the data is sent back over the network to the server, and at the server is acted upon or stored.
For example a company's website may have a web page which queries customers for information, and upon the customer completing the data in the web page, the web page along with the data is transmitted back to the company's server and stored at the server.
In these instances, however, all users with a computer and network browser are able to enter data into the web pages as they desire. However, as recognized by the present inventors, there may be instances where a company wishes to provide a user with a form that only a particular user or set of users can enter data into, such that after the user has entered data into the form, the form may be retransmitted by the user to one or more entities which may view the form and data in a read-only manner. Accordingly, what is needed is an electronic document with selectively editable fields that may be edited by only particular users.
It is against this background that various embodiments of the present invention were developed.